


Of Cons and Videos

by genovianprince



Category: youtube - Fandom
Genre: Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Markiplier - Freeform, NON GENDERED READER, Other, Slow Burn, gender neutral reader, jacksepticeye - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-01-21 10:20:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12455502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genovianprince/pseuds/genovianprince
Summary: Pax West. You had scrimped and saved to the best of your ability and finally the day was here. You’d come here with a couple of friends - not necessarily your best friends, but people you considered friends nonetheless. Meeting JackSepticEye was your dream. However... nothing goes as planned.





	1. Pax And Betrayal

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, gals, and nonbinary pals! Here's what I hope is a very nice story that all people who are fans of Jack can enjoy. Feel free to comment a request if you like, too. I hope to post weekly chapters and please give feedback. There is no beta reader, so if you spot a grammatical mistake or a misplaced pronouns, please let me know and I'll edit the fic :) Enjoy!

Pax West. You had scrimped and saved to the best of your ability and finally the day was here. You’d come here with a couple of friends - not necessarily your best friends, but people you considered friends nonetheless. They walked around with you, laughing and having a good time as you looked at everything you could land your eyes on.

Eventually, it was time to line up for the JackSepticEye meetup and you eagerly dragged your two friends over, hopping with excitement. Being one of the first few in line made you feel good. After all, at this point, your meeting was guaranteed, and it delighted you to no end.

You gently cradled the semi-complex scarf you’d crocheted, trying not to handle it too much. Thick and woollen, the black scarf with green trimming had septiceye Sams dotted all over it. You were proud of your work and were psyched to give it to Jack. And get the hug and picture and signature, but you looked forward to handing him the scarf the most.

The wait was tremendously long, but you didn’t care. It would be extremely worth it. Finally, finally, the moment came. You were next. You waited with bated breath, trembling slightly and heart pounding. They called you over and you bounded forward with enthusiasm.

“Hi!” Jack greeted easily, beaming and waving a little at you.

You beamed and waved back. “Hi. I, um, made this scarf for you,” you mumbled, thrusting it at him. You winced slightly at how forceful you were.

He kept grinning and took it from your hands, examining it. “Hey, this is really cool!” he said, draping it around his neck loosely. “There’s little Sams all over!”

“Yeah! I thought it’d be neat to do that, so I looked up some patterns and improvised,” you said casually, grin widening. He liked it! He was wearing it! You could hardly contain your excitement and you bounced in place a little, eyes shining with happiness.

“You improvised well,” he praised.

You finally moved in for a hug, which he granted. Whoa. You never expected to feel such… comfort from hugging him. He smelled extremely nice, and his arms wrapped around you tightly. God, you were so happy. Tears formed in your eyes as he pulled back, not from sadness, but from the sheer strength of happiness and excitement building in you.

“Whoa, hey, don’t cry, please,” Jack said, a look of worry and concern crossing his face. 

You shook your head and chuckled softly, wiping at your eyes. “No, no, I’m just so happy that I got to meet you. I saved up for so long,” you commented, “It’s just really great to finally meet one of the most boss people on Earth.” Your lips lifted in a small smirk.

Jack laughed and clapped you on the shoulder. “That I am!” he crowed, finally turning you and him around for the photo.

Photo taken, autograph book signed, and scarf out of hand and on Jack’s neck, you were sent on your way. You wished that you could have said more to him, but you knew that other people in the line deserved what you had experienced, too.

Your friends met up with you soon and you continued wandering around, chattering and having a good time.

Until you were separated by a wave of people.

Frantically, you tried calling them over and over, only to get no response from either of them. Which really pissed you off, because you could tell they’d seen what you sent to them via texts and FaceBook messenger.

Which meant they were ignoring you.

The realization hit you hard. Of course, why hadn’t you seen it before? The late texts, the shifty looks, the way they didn’t respond to you as enthusiastically as you did to them. The separation was probably intentional, now that you looked at it.

Heart hurting, you wandered around in a more zombie-like state, unhappy. Eventually, your thoughts and feelings caught up to you and you hustled to one of those family bathrooms with one toilet and a locking door.

You sat on the toilet and cried, holding your bag close to you. Your bag held your money, food snacks, water bottles, and stuff you’d bought. Not to mention the most precious things - the photo and book with Jack’s signature. Those were in a pocket all on their own to protect them.

You sobbed hard into a soft spot on your bag as the door, which had been left ajar, creaked open. You immediately tried to stop crying and looked up, wiping your eyes furiously. Blinking, you tried to discern who was there.

“Hey, are you okay?” a voice asked, probably the one at the door.

“No,” you croaked, seeing no reason to lie. After all, you were sure your face was swollen. Tears still welled in your eyes and you couldn’t really see who it was, nor did you care that much. The voice sounded familiar, but you dismissed it.

“Right. Stupid question,” the voice said, laughing awkwardly. It was a male voice, you realized.

“Heh, yeah,” you said, rubbing at your face again. Finally, your vision cleared and you froze at who was at the door, coughing.

“Oh, you’re the person that gave me the scarf!” Jack suddenly realized, smiling. He stepped into the bathroom fully and shut the door, locking it behind him.

You felt trapped, suddenly, but you were too emotionally exhausted to care. Which really should frighten you, you thought idly, but again, you didn’t care.

Reading your expression, Jack immediately elaborated, “So we’re not bothered. You can tell me what’s wrong, okay? If you want.” He came and knelt next to you on the floor, causing you to giggle slightly.

“I, um, well,” you stumbled over your words, hardly the confident young person who’d met Jack just a few hours ago.

Slowly, Jack laid a hand on your knee and gazed into your eyes. “It okay if you don’t want to talk. Just know that I’m here for you. Not to mention the whole community if you want to reach out to anyone.” He smiled softly at you.

You coughed again and sighed, grabbing some TP and blowing your nose, tossing the used tissue in the trash. Looking back at Jack, you smiled a little bit back.

“Well, my friends… aren’t my friends,” you said humorlessly, “They abandoned me and I know they’ve seen my texts and messages, but they’re not responding. I should have seen it coming.” You shook your head, clenching your jaw to stop yourself from breaking down again. 

“Sound like a coupla twats,” Jack said flatly, “Nobody deserves that kind of treatment. Trust me, I know.”

He stood and held a hand out to you, and you gratefully took it, standing.

“Now, technically, you’re not supposed to be in this bathroom. I don’t know how you got past security, but I don’t care. You take as long as you need to recover and everything will be okay,” he said, smiling widely again.

You smiled widely back and washed your face, breathing deeply and trying to calm yourself.

“Better?” Jack asked after a bit.

“Yeah,” you sighed, “As good as it’s gonna get.” You smiled ruefully at him.

He reached out and ruffled your hair. “Not good, but better,” he commented, “Hey, wait a second, I know you!” 

You furrowed your brow. Well, that had come out of nowhere. “Yeah, I gave you that scarf,” you joked.

“No, no, you’re on YouTube,” he said, obviously thinking hard as he rubbed his chin.

You gaped and decided to throw out your intro. “Sup dudes and dogs, I’m ______ from - “

“Yeah!” he exclaimed, suddenly getting it and cutting you off. “You’re QuestingDoggo!”

You blushed deeply and smiled brightly at Jack. You had no idea how he’d found your channel - after all, you only had a couple thousand subscribers (that decided to call themselves Quest Pups). Not that it was a small number for you, it was amazing! But compared to Jack or Mark, you were dwarfed.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s me,” you said, waving a tad awkwardly. You’d not met any of your fans, so 1) you were meeting a fan and didn’t know how to react and 2) your fan was motherfucking JackSepticEye. How did anyone react to that kind of thing?!

“How do you know me?” you asked curiously, “It’s not like I’m super popular or anything.”

Jack shrugged. “Oh, you know, just searching for new content and I saw that you’d played ClusterTruck, so I watched that and a few other of your videos,” he explained, “Good to see ClusterTruck is catchin’ on!”

You laughed softly, bypassing the embarrassment you should have felt at Jack possibly watching a video where you mentioned and/or gushed over him. You did your best to keep your channel your own, but sometimes you couldn’t help from mentioning the people you liked to watch. It felt more natural to remind your watchers that you were just a watcher, too.

“Hell, half of what I play is because I saw you play it,” you admitted, “At least, in the beginning. I loved your videos on ClusterTruck. And basically everything else. My friend introduced me to your channel back when you were still at, what, 7.5 million? It was right around the time Undertale hit, I think.”

“Ohh, man, Undertale was such a grand ol’ time,” Jack said fondly, reminiscing. “I fookin’ loved it.”

You chuckled. “I loved watching you play. So full of bombastic energy! It made me want to start up, so not long after, I made QuestingDoggo. I’m sure if you watched my channel for any length of time, you’ve noticed all the Harry Potter references.”

He laughed. “Yeah. Some might say you’re a touch obsessed,” he said with a smirk.

You snorted. “Only plebs would dare,” you declared. Wow. You felt a lot better. Jack always did that for you, at least, before QuestingDoggo. Now you had your own community to turn to, but you still went to Jack’s channel first out of habit.

Man. Sometimes weird strangers-yet-not-strangers were better people than regular people. You gasped with dismay as you realized what their abandoning you really meant.

“Aw, shit, they have the car,” you sighed, “That’s gonna be a long-ass walk.”

Jack tilted his head curiously. “Hotel a bit far from here?” he ventured.

“Yeah. 20 minute drive.” You made a face. “Ah well, at least I have a room key. I can get my shit and just go to the airport via bus. No way am I spending another night in their presence.”

“Couldn’t stay the whole weekend?” he asked sympathetically.

You shook your head. “Couldn’t afford to,” you shrugged, “No big. Too bad I have to miss your big panel on Monday, though.” You gave him a half-grin.

He shrugged back at you. “I’m very excited for it, but also very nervous,” he admitted, “And don’t change the subject. I’m not lettin’ you sleep in an airport. Come on, I’ll get you a real hotel room, get your ticket changed for the whole weekend, and we can talk.”

Your face went slack with shock and you blinked. “But… isn’t that a lot of money?” you asked timidly, “I mean, there’s really no need to waste so much on me! People do this shit all the time.”

He shook his head. “Come on, you really think I’m going to let you leave here on a sour note? This should be the time of your life, and I’ll help make it that way!” he declared.

Your heart skipped a beat. God, could this man get any sweeter?

“I guess I shouldn’t fight against the Great and Amazing Jackaboy, who’s extremely insistent on doing something incredibly nice,” you said wryly, smiling.

“Exactly!” he said, laughing, “Come on. Probably should stop hogging the bathroom.”

“Check and make sure nobody’s in the hall,” you advised, “If we walk out of here together… JackSeptiDoggo will come around. Or QuestingSepticEye. Or something. I’m sure the fans will come up with something suitable.”

Jack snickered and gently opened the door a crack, peeking out. “Okay, coast is clear,” he said, exiting the bathroom. 

You quickly followed after, throwing your bag over your shoulder. “I almost feel like we secretly did weed,” you remarked with a chuckle.

Jack snorted. “I’ll take that over relationship rumors any day.”

You were suddenly reminded of how Jack and Wiishu had broken up a few months ago. It broke your heart, too, remembering how subdued Jack had been - as subdued as Jack could be, anyway. He’d bounced back quickly, but surely it still hurt.

“Eh, I think they can be pretty fun,” you smirked, “Like, hello septiplier.”

Jack groaned. “Ohh, noo, please don’t,” he pouted good-naturedly.

You laughed. “Oh, don’t worry, someone once thought I was dating JaidenAnimations. I gushed over her animations one time, people!”

The Irirshman chuckled and shook his head. “Ah, well, fans will do what fans will do,” he said, smiling easily.

Looking around, you wondered where you were walking to and said so to Jack.

“Oh, just going deeper into the restricted area,” he replied casually.

You yelped, worry crossing your features.

“Ah, don’t worry, you’re with me, _____,” he replied flippantly, “You got here somehow so you may as well stay. Mark and I are both just relaxin’ for now anyway.”

Another smirk wound its way across your lips and as you opened your mouth to make a crack about septiplier, Jack shot you a mild, pouty glare, and you shut your mouth, the smirk still playing on your lips. He grumbled incomprehensibly and opened a door to a lounge where Mark had thrown himself across a couch and snacked on strawberries.

He nearly choked with how fast he sat up and you watched him cough and flail and generally be over dramatic with a big grin.

Jack shook his head and went over to whap him on the back.

“Owww, what the hell man?” Mark immediately complained, pouting.

“You were choking and our guest didn’t seem all too worried, so I thought I’d help,” Jack replied dryly.

“Guest?” Mark’s eyebrows flew up and he finally looked over to you. “Oh, hey.” He switched to looking up at Jack behind him, smirking. “Dang, Jack, coulda told me you bringing over a partner. I’d’ve left the room!”

“Oh shut up ya gobshite,” Jack said affectionately, smacking him over the head gently.

“But really, who are you?” Mark said, chuckling and turning to you.

“Oh, I’m QuestingDoggo. Err, _____. Jack’s helping me out a tight spot,” you explained, not fully elaborating. You didn’t want to talk about it. You just wanted to enjoy the luxury of having Mark and Jack in the room at the same time.

Mark nodded slowly, catching on easily. Your shrug and shifting feet and eyes gave it away enough without you saying anything. “Well, welcome to our humble, yet temporary, abode,” he said, sweeping his arm dramatically.

“Heh heh, nice to meet you, Mark,” you said, “And thanks.” 

Scanning the room, you saw an armchair which you gratefully plopped down in, since Mark was still taking up the whole couch. “Man, this is some sweet chair-age,” you sighed deeply.

The other two in the room chuckled. The three of you joked around and had a good time. You could feel yourself getting more comfortable with them. At one point, Jack whipped out his iPad and showed Mark a video of yours - which had you cringing in mortification at first, but then you watched them watch with interest. Soon, though, your phone buzzed with a new notification and you glanced it.

 **{text}:** Glad you finally got the message. We’ll have your shit in the hall in an hour.

Your face paled and a hand came up to cover your mouth. God, how could they treat you so callously? This was some next level Mean Girls shit.

Jack glanced up and noticed. “Whoa, hey, don’t pass out on us,” he said jokingly, concern in his face, “What happened?”

Silently, you held up for phone for him to see. Mark peered over his shoulder and you almost flinched it away, but you steeled yourself. Mark was just as much your friend here as Jack was - not very much, but definitely, infinitely better than the fake friends who’d texted you.

“Oh, geez, that’s not very good,” Mark mumbled.

Jack’s face clouded with anger briefly before he brushed it aside. “Nobody deserves to be treated like that,” he vowed, “Come on, ______, let’s go get your stuff and a new hotel room now. I don’t have anywhere to be for another couple hours.”

Mark’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, but he nodded slowly. “Yeah. I have a panel soon, so I can’t come along. But hey, here,” he said, taking some money from his wallet and slapping it in your hand.

“Whoa, hey, no!” you said, thrusting the bills - oh God, was that five twenties in your hand? - back at him. “I cannot just take your hard earned money. Jack’s already upgrading my ticket and getting me a new hotel room. I have enough money for food…” You trailed off as you realized that no, you didn’t. You’d only budgeted for the days you had here, not the extra days.

Mark smirked as he sensed the chink in your armour. “Everybody’s got to eat,” he remarked easily, gently pushing your hand back at you.

You shook her head wildly. “I don’t need a hundred bucks,” you said sharply.

“Then buy one of my pop figures from someone with it, I don’t know, just take it,” he insisted.

“Oh my God. Save me from cute boys trying to be too nice,” you groaned, looking up at the ceiling. You knew he wouldn’t give in at all.

You heard muffled snickering from one of the duo, followed by the sound of flesh smacking flesh. You looked down to see Jack sticking his tongue out at Mark, and Mark snickering at Jack. Huh?

“Well, I guess I’m not escaping. Let’s go ahead and go, Jack, so somebody doesn’t throw my shit in the trash,” you sighed, picking up your bag. You looked up at him with a sad smile on your face. “Thanks for doing this.”

“Hey, anythin’ for a friend,” he beamed.

Mark smirked at you from behind Jack and mouthed something that you couldn’t quite understand. You furrowed your brow and shrugged at him, indicating your confusion as you turned and walked out, Jack right behind you.

As promised, your shit was indeed in the hallway. At least it was organized, you thought numbly as you flicked through it all to make sure it was all there. It was. You went and left your key in the room before walking out and taking up half your things, since Jack had already taken half. You decided arguing was futile. Again.

He took you to a different hotel with a vacancy and rented you a nice room, helping you put your stuff away. 

The whole time, you were mostly silent, letting Jack fill it with his babbling. You stayed interested in him, of course, how could you not? But you didn’t contribute much.

Gingerly, you sat down on the nice, squishy bed in the room after having put all your stuff away. Jack watched you with a worried look.

“Hey. Back to Pax?” he asked. “Or do you want to stay here for a bit? Surely there’s more cool stuff you want to go buy and do.”

Your eyes snapped up to look at him, and after a moment, you smiled. “Yeah. Sounds better than moping,” you said, hopping lightly off the bed and grabbing your Pax bag. You’d emptied it of most of the stuff you bought so it wouldn’t be so heavy and threw it over your shoulder.

“Thanks for all this,” you said suddenly, gesturing to the room around you. “I know I’m just a silly fan, but…”

“Don’t say that about yourself, ever,” Jack said firmly, “Fans are an important part of the community. And you’re a fellow Tuber. Hell, I’m a fan of you, aren’t I?” He beamed at you. “And I bet you found that pretty awesome, and would find it awesome to meet any of your other fans that aren’t famous.”

You blushed slightly and nodded. “Yeah, it’s weird to think about. Having fans. People that would want to meet me like I wanted to meet you. It’s totally crazy! Flattering and all that,” you said, pausing, “And I guess we make all the fanart and all… It’s cool.” You beamed back at him.

Jack nodded. “Exactly. Nobody’s ever ‘just a fan’. Everyone is important. Didn’t you ever listen to me rants about that?” he joked.

You shook your head slightly and laughed. “Yeah. I’m just not that great at remembering that,” you admitted, finally grabbing your room key and walking out with Jack. 

Jack chuckled. “I’ll repeat it until it gets through everyone’s skull,” he said.

“Well, you’ll be repeating for a long time,” you advised.

“And I’ll always be happy to do it,” he replied as he hailed a taxi.

The rest of Pax was amazing, and at the end of Jack’s panel on Monday, you went back to the hotel to rest. It had been a good weekend and there wasn’t much else to look at at that point. You sighed happily and flopped on your bed, getting ready to do a vlog for your channel.

A knock on your door surprised you a few hours later, during a Disney marathon, and you hopped up and peered out the peephole. You nearly choked on your popcorn at the sight of a “disguised” Jack and quickly wrenched open the door, uncaring about your wet hair and pajamas.

“What the - why are you here?” you asked him, bewildered, and gestured for him to come in.

He stepped in and lowered his hood, smiling at you and shrugging. “Well, I just wanted to see if maybe you wanted to come have dinner with Mark, the Grumps, and me. I had a great time with you the last couple days,” he said.

Blinking in astonishment, you grinned. “Hell yes! I’m not eating very healthily. Popcorn only. Probably need protein,” you babbled, “Man. Thanks, Jack.”

You dashed into the bathroom to change, hopping out with renewed energy for the day. Grabbing your wallet, you smiled at Jack. 

“So, uh, where are we going?” you asked, slipping on your shoes.

“Barbecue place,” Jack answered, whipping out his phone and Skyping Mark that you were coming along. “Hey, uh, want to trade Skypes and Discords? Keep in contact?”

“Sure,” you replied, not fully registering what was happening until you had each other in your contacts. You stared at your phone, at the implausible name in your Skype and Discord contacts… Never in a million years did you dream this would happen. Well, of course you dreamed it, but you never expected it to be reality.

“This is so surreal,” you chuckled, “But hella awesome.”

Jack chuckled. “I felt the same way when Mark gave me his,” he confided as you flicked off the TV and followed him to the waiting car containing Mark, Dan, and Arin.

“Hey guys, this is _____ from QuestingDoggo,” he introduced you, making you blush slightly and wave as you got in the car. Mark and Arin sat up front, leaving you to be squished between Dan and Jack on the hump of the seat.

“Hey ____, Danny Sexbang,” Dan introduced himself, sticking out a hand.

You shook it, chuckling. “I know. I love Ninja Sex Party,” you said, “And the fact that I can find it on the spoofy.”

Dan and Arin burst into laughter, while Jack and Mark stuck to small chuckles.

“Wow. Guess you love the stories about my dad,” Dan said.

“Dude, everyone loves your crazy stories about Avi,” Arin chimed in, “They’re great!”

You snickered. “Yeah, exactly! Thanks Arin,” you replied.

Playful banter echoed through the car and dining experience. The guys did a fantastic job of making you feel like one of them, and you adored them for it. You flew home after the best weekend of your life and snuggled into your own blankets happily.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Visit to Ireland

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well well well, it has been a week (and some hours, I think) since I uploaded and here I am, sticking to my schedule! Whoo! Here ya guys, gals, and nonbinary pals go. My requests for stuff *are* open!

You and Jack talked a lot over the next few months. You bonded quickly and suggested games to each other. Eventually, of course, this led to Jack asking to do a collab with you, to which you happily agreed. 

Rocket League was crazy fun, so you both settled on that one to play together. You felt a bit bad for not really talking to your viewers like you usually did, but you did manage to slip in a couple sentences here and there while also focusing on your friend.

After that, you did several more collabs with him, and eventually Mark and Bob and Wade, too. Prop Hunt was one of your favorites to play.

At one point during a collab with just you and Jack, you couldn’t figure out why Jack kept throwing smirks at you, until you glanced at your facecam and realized that you had your Jacksepticeye beanie on. (It was a purchase you’d been able to make before they were no longer made, thank whatever-being-you-believed-in). Thankfully, it was after the game and you guys were just talking. You tended to refer to him as Jack in videos, but in personal calls, you called him Seán. It felt more personal that way.

“Seán, why didn’t you tell me?” you asked, upset. You’d forgotten that you were wearing it when you began recording. It just felt natural on your head. But you didn’t like Seán seeing it on you - at least, live anyway. It made you feel like you were worshipping him instead of being his friend. Any other time, you felt fine with it on because it was promoting him and he deserved all the subscribers in the world.

“What? What’s wrong with wearin’ it?” he asked, concerned.

“Nothing, not really, it just… feels awkward to wear it around you,” you confessed, “I won’t want to feel like I’m a crazy fan or have you see me that way when we’re friends, ya know?”

Seán nodded in understanding. “I get it. Don’t worry about it, ____. Hey, how about next time I wear a QuestingDoggo beanie?”

You blinked. “But I don’t have any merch. I don’t even know where to begin, or what the designs and stuff would be.”

Your icon was the word “quest” but with the letters shaped to sort of match a greyhound’s outline. The words and background were in black, but the dog was in white. You didn’t know how that would really work to make beanies on, or even what your catchphrases were to put on shirts. Or how to even get that stuff made to be sold.

Seán took it upon himself to educate you, and you went through the process with his help. It took a long, long time before you finished designing, but with Seán’s help, everything turned out pretty okay. You had a black beanie with your icon on the front of it and four T-shirts. One was black with the white text, “We gotta sniff it out!” which was one of your catchphrases, as informed by Seán. The second was the same, but with the colors flipped. The third and fourth shirts had the same scheme, but with the text “Doggo digs it”, another of your phrases. You said it when you found something you liked, usually.

It was strange, you thought, that all this could come from making a few videos and getting people to laugh. Now that you had almost half a million subscribers (!!!) from Seán and Mark’s channels coming to yours after seeing you on them, you could actually make some money off this. Not that it was your only goal, of course, but it seemed pointless to make something that most of your subs back then couldn’t have afforded.

But now, now you had some cool stuff for them. It wasn’t much, and you’d probably get better ideas as time went on, but it was wonderful for now.

“Man, Seán, I could just kiss you for all your help,” you said unthinkingly.

Seán smirked at you. “Oh really?”

You stuck your tongue out at him. “Shush. You know I didn’t mean it like that.”

He barked out a laugh. “I know, I know, but you’re so easy to tease!” he said with a grin.

You rolled your eyes at him. The call continued for another little bit, but soon you both had to sign off for editing and eating and stuff. Normal human being things. Man, sleep took so much time out of your day… you hated it. There was so much you could do. So many videos to record, games to play, you could learn languages and stuff! Sleep was such a waste of time. You totally understood how Seán felt about sleep.

When you woke up, you were shocked to find out that you already had a few hundred pre-orders for the shirts and beanies. You had only sent out a Tweet late in the night saying something about upcoming merch. There was a link, yes, but man, you hadn’t expected so much so soon.

It delighted you to no end. You shot a screenshot of the amount of preorders to Seán with several exclamation points.

Almost immediately, he sent in all caps, “AWESOME! I TOLD YOU YOU COULD DO IT!”

Snorting softly, you smiled and sent back, “Yeah, yeah :P Thank you.”

You went about your normal day then, recording videos and editing before lazing about your apartment, mostly by laying on the couch and replying to comments or reblogging fanart. With nothing else really to do, and all your games looked boring at the moment, you were bored out of your mind. Not for the first time, you wished you lived closer to your YouTuber friends. With those other friends out of your life for being absolutely terrible to you at con, you had no others around you to go hang out with.

Seán also had this problem, you realized. He was alone in Ireland, especially after losing Signe. Everybody he knew was in America, minus Pewdiepie, but even he wasn’t really close enough to just go kick around with after recording.

Lonely living.

Sitting up as an idea hit you, you grinned at nobody in particular. Grabbing your phone, you swung off the couch and began walking around as you furiously typed. 

QDoggo: Hey, I have a great idea.

BoopyDoopy: Oh yeah? What’s up?

QDoggo: What if I came to visit in Ireland? I mean, you and I don’t really live close to anybody besides Felix. I’d love to hang out with you more and shit.

BoopyDoopy: that would be AWESOME! You can totally stay at my place btw. Save some $ on a hotel :P

QDoggo: man that’s too nice!! You’re always too nice!! Not that I’m refusing, I’ll take any money saving opportunity I can get lol. Ofc I’ll help w/ groceries and shit. How long would your hospitality last? I was hoping to be over there like a week or two.

BoopyDoopy: Hell yeah! Two weeks would be great. I could definitely use some company. And I could get out of the house to take you on a tour.

QDoggo: Sounds great!!

You continued to plan together, deciding when to take the plane, etc. Eventually, you had a cheap flight for a week from tomorrow to touch down in Ireland for two weeks. God, that was pretty awesome to think about.

Adrenaline kept you pumped up and you went to record videos for those two weeks. After recording an extra eight videos, your throat was sore and everything hurt with exhaustion, but you were damn proud. When you began, you’d based your model on Seán’s. He was so dedicated to his perfect record that it inspired you. You’d started off at one video a day, but after half a year, you bumped it up to two. You tabled your schedule so your videos were five hours apart, not wanting to appear totally like a copycat of Seán.

The rest of the week was a frantic mess of recording and packing. You scheduled all your videos anxiously and made a Tweet on the plane about going to visit Seán. Both of you had agreed to hold off on saying something until it was nearly time.

God, how your throat hurt after all that extra yelling. You never really did things like that before, and though you knew Seán did the same thing you had, he surely had gotten used to doing stuff like that for cons.

During the flight, Seán and you Tweeted back and forth to tease the fans. The SeptiQuest fans were going wild in the background, but you fairly ignored them, minus a couple of dumb jokes exchanged with Seán.

The time finally came. The second you saw Seán waiting for you after you got through customs and security, you ran up and hugged him. He hugged you back and you both couldn’t stop laughing happily as you squeezed the life out of each other.

“Man, it’s so good to see you!” Seán said, grinning as you both pulled away.

“Yeah, you too!” you shouted back with an equally large grin.

As you chattered away, you both got your stuff and took a taxi back to Seán’s home. Throwing your stuff in the spare room for now, it was only when you both collapsed on the couch that you realized where you were.

“Oh my God, I’m actually in Ireland…” you whispered in awe.

“Yeah, that’s how I felt the first time I went to the US,” Seán said, “It was weird. Just crossed an entire ocean and now you’re in a totally different country.”

You nodded, feeling a bit overwhelmed by it. “Yeah, it’s nuts. I love it but holy crap. I never went anywhere else before. It’s strange…” You yawned, suddenly tired.

“Jet lag,” Seán murmured, “Happened to me, too. Just sleep for now. I’ll make some dinner cos you’re gonna be super hungry when you wake up.”

You nodded. “Yeah, just lemme get to my room first,” you said jokingly, standing up. Whoa. You were really tired. Stumbling up the stairs, you flopped onto the bed and it was lights out immediately.

Roughly three hours later, you felt like you were rising from the dead as a phone alarm went off. You scrambled for your phone and flipped the alarm off, glaring at it angrily. You hated forgetting to turn that stuff off. Hell, you hadn’t even adjusted your phone for the time zone difference, so it was totally wrong. Gross.

Rubbing your eyes and yawning, you decided to stay up now that you were. No point in wasting the day, right? You slunk into the shower and showered briefly before heading downstairs again.

“Hey Sleeping Beauty!” Seán greeted enthusiastically as you wandered into the kitchen. It seemed he’d just begun on dinner. You were grateful he’d waited a while.

“Shut up,” you grumbled, “I needed it. Hey, that smells good, what are ya making?”

“Vegetable stew. I’ve also got apple dumplings in the oven,” he answered, giving you a smile as he lazily stirred the pot. “I didn’t really know much about your diet so I kept it simple.”

Flattered by his thoughtfulness, you gave him a bright grin. “Thanks.” 

As he cooked, you both went into a lengthy discussion about food and relative pickiness, what you’d both eat and not eat, and how to balance the meals for the ways you two ate. You both sheepishly admitted that perhaps this was something that ought to have been discussed beforehand, but better late than never.

The two of you ate and talked, laughing well late into the night as you replied to comments together and made Instagram videos about your time together. It was really fun connecting with everyone and sharing stuff with Seán right in the room. Your first night in Ireland wasn’t very eventful, but it was still wonderful all the same.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is *very* late on Sunday - but still Sunday where I am, so I'm technically not late...? Sorry, guys. Had to deal with some emergencies. But rest assured that the rest of the fic is finished now, and it only comes down to posting the rest of the chapters each Sunday. I apologize for this one being so short, but I *am* able to post the next chapter immediately, or perhaps the rest at once. What do my dear readers think? Please comment and let me know.

The next few days were a whirlwind of tours around the area of Ireland Seán lived in. It was a small, cozy town. At one point, he took you to the amusement park themed around potatoes - Tayto Park. It was a new adventure for him, too, since he’d alway wanted to go but never had. 

In the last couple days, you noticed Seán acting a little strangely. He seemed to be avoiding your touch, behavior you’d never expected from him considering his almost compulsive need to touch people.

“Hey… is something wrong?” you asked him, concerned, after he shifted away from you once again. “You don’t have to tell me, of course, but I’m worried about you, you know.”

Seán was silent for a while before he sighed. “I’m sorry, I’m being an asshole. I don’t want to talk about it, but I shouldn’t be such an asshole to you,” he apologized.

You nodded in understanding. “Gotcha. You’re not being an asshole though.” You smiled gave his shoulder a light punch. “I’m gonna go check my emails and stuff. Give you a little time to think and cool down.”

He nodded and you stood, heading to your temporary room. Almost immediately, you hopped on Discord to message Mark.

_QDoggo:_ Hey Mark! How’s it going back home?

_Markimoo:_ Hey Doggo! Eh, not much. Uploading some fun videos. How’s it in good ol’ Ireland?

_QDoggo:_ It’s been amazing. Really cool here! But Seán’s been kinda… iffy lately, I guess. There’s definitely something going on with him but he doesn’t want to talk to me, which is cool and all, but I wanted to know if you knew anything.

_Markimoo:_ I’ve been sworn to secrecy!

_QDoggo:_ Yeah, I figured lol! I just want to make sure that it’s not anything super serious that’s detrimental or something. Like something I should worry about. You can give me that little detail, can’t you?

_Markimoo:_ Yeah, I guess. trust me, _____, it’s okay. he’s just going through some stuff but you don’t need to worry. it’s something he needs to figure out on his own.

_QDoggo:_ Okay. Thanks Mark. 

_QDoggo:_ Also, what the fuck are you doing up at 4 am?!

_Markimoo:_ Talking to you :P

_QDoggo:_ I’m so flattered. Get some sleep you big floofy moron.

_Markimoo:_ Ouch, right in the balls! Fiiiiine, mayyyyybe I’ll think about sleeping :P

You rolled your eyes.

_QDoggo:_ I rolled my eyes. Sleep. See you soon.

_Markimoo:_ Night.

You didn’t live in L.A., but you were thinking about moving there to be closer to all your YouTuber friends. Or maybe moving to Ireland… You’d have to ask Seán about that though, to see if he had any plans to move to the USA maybe… You didn’t want to leave your home for another country if Seán planned on doing that himself. You wanted all your friends to be able to casually get together, but you didn’t like Seán being all alone over here, so you were fine with moving.

It would make it a touch harder to get everyone together, but at least Seán would have someone to kick around with after work - which was more like play anyway, you snorted to yourself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being a day late! My internet went out :(

Your time in Ireland was coming to a close. Three more days, you thought sadly, sighing. You really didn’t want to leave, but holy hell, the time was close. Seán had settled down after the talk you gave him for the most part.

With a ferocious ache in your heart, you realized that you’d developed romantic feelings for Seán. It hurt, and you wondered why. Maybe it was because you knew you couldn’t confess to him - he still wasn’t ready after what Signe did to him, maybe, and you couldn’t hurt him. Or because you knew he’d reject it, maybe interpret it as you being a weird superfan after all who had done all this to get in his pants. Illogical as that fear of his conclusion was (because the conclusion itself was illogical), your brain still told you to fear the possibility.

The realization had hit while you had gone shopping with Seán again to get some more food for your last days. Thankfully, you were in another aisle so your stumble and shaking hands weren’t questioned immediately. It gave you a moment to compose yourself and shoot off a message to Mark. He was your second most trusted confidante after Seán and you knew he would happily keep your secret like he kept Seán’s, whatever it was.

_QDoggo:_ hey I just realized something pretty troubling

_Markimoo:_ oh no that’s not good, what’s up?

_QDoggo:_ I’m in love with Seán and idk what to do

After sending that, you closed the app, just in case Seán happened to look over your shoulder. Mark would probably take a while to formulate a response anyway. He was the sort to think deeply on these things before handing out advice.

Thankfully, your hands stopped shaking after you sent the confession to Mark, so you went back to shopping with ease. Seán did seem to sense something off about you, but took the same route you had with him earlier in the week - letting you talk about it when you were ready.

While putting the groceries away, you checked your phone for message from Mark. It had been a good half hour at least. Sure enough, a message had popped up just a few minutes ago.

_Markimoo:_ I think you should tell him. Feelings like this shouldn’t be ignored or pushed away. It’ll only make you  
miserable. And if you know his answer, you can get over him that more quickly or have a fun romantic  
relationship with him. I have a feeling it’ll be the latter - you two will make a great couple! Best to do it while  
you’re still in Ireland. Face-to-face is the best way to do it. I know you can find the courage to do it, _____. Trust your best buddy okay?

Biting your lip, you stared at the message for a while. Damnit, Mark made a lot of sense. You took a deep breath and shot back a short affirmative, looking to Seán.

He’d been staring at you with a worried expression. “Hey, are you okay? You look all distracted and flustered and - and - I don’t even know what else,” he said in a rush. “Kind of scared, I guess.”

You sputtered your lips and sighed. “Yeah, kinda,” you admitted. “I’m working some stuff out. Talkin’ to Mark about it. He gave me some pretty sound advice.”

Seán chuckled once and nodded. “Yeah, he’s good at that,” he replied. 

You grinned weakly. Fuck it, you thought, may as well tell him.

“I like you,” you blurted. “Like, I wanna go on dates with you and stuff. Like that.” Shut up shut up shut up!

Seán stared at you. “Tha’s what you were talkin’ to Mark about?” he asked, sounding blown away.

You slowly nodded, a blush creeping up on your cheeks.

“I… That’s what I was telling him, too,” Seán admitted, “that I liked you. That’s why I was acting weird.”

You gaped at him, blinking rapidly. “I, what, you…? Really?” you stuttered, a wide grin stretching across your features.

He nodded, returning the grin. “Yeah. Being around you these past couple weeks… I couldn’t deny what I was feeling anymore,” he mumbled, “Cause, I realized that i was feeling something, but I was hiding it, and thinking that I was crazy, but then… you were here, and I just, well, yeah.”

“Funny, it was the same for me,” you replied, “But whereas you had your epiphany a few days ago, I had mine, what, like an hour ago?”

Seán blinked. “You move fast,” he said dryly, “Did Mark tell you to confess? He told me to just do it.”

Laughing, you nodded. “Yeah. That POS knew! If it weren’t for him, though, I probably never would have said anything. Too many ridiculous fears.”

Seán suddenly stepped forward and hugged you tightly, which you returned gladly. “Don’t worry, _____. We’re sort of together now, yeah?”

“Only sort of?” you teased, pulling back to grin at him.

“You know what I meant!” he laughed, giving a teasing punch to your arm.

Your grin just grew wider. “What are we cooking tonight?” you asked, hunger stealing your attention away.

Seán answered by unpacking the groceries and setting out several things. You helped him cook as he taught you the recipe for the veggie stew and apple dumplings he had made on your first day in Ireland. It felt fitting.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh once again I missed my own deadline. I had car trouble (again).... So! I decided to just mash the rest of the fic into one last chapter before I forget again, so here's the finished product. If anyone wants more, I'll happily write sequels, but I need prompts :)

You and Seán spent the last couple of days together even closer than before - big time snuggle sessions, wonderful gaming time, cooking together. It felt so domestic and fun. But unfortunately, you had to leave. You never liked goodbyes, you thought to yourself as you packed, wishing that you could have spent more time with Seán. Your relationship had just begun. It really, really sucked.

Seán hated it too, of course. But you guys Skyped/Discorded after you got home and rested.

The next six months were a whirlwind of videos, extra work on the side to save up more money until YouTube could really be your full time job, and Skype/Discord chats with Seán. He’d decided to move to Brighton and was working towards that. Your relationship was still new, but you felt like you knew Seán really well and vice versa, so you began working on getting a passport and a visa so you could move in with him. Seán wouldn’t be lonely (and neither would you). Besides, living with someone before you got married was a good idea - it would let you know even better how you would work (or not) together and thus avoid a messy divorce if something happened.

Moving away from the home you’d worked so hard for was difficult, but you looked forward to being able to be by Seán all the time. Isolation wasn’t healthy.

Looking at your apartment one last time, you sighed happily. You’d miss it, but mostly you looked forward to moving in with Seán. You’d each have your own recording space, too. Keeping up QuestingDoggo was something you intended on.

Seán had already moved into the house by the time you were getting your stuff packed and flight together. He’d been there only a week when your plane’s wheels touched down and you were heading to meet him to take a cab home. Home. In Britain. An actual house. The thought still struck you again and again with varying levels of shock, though it was slowly ebbing. 

Humming softly as you collected your luggage, you kept an eye out for the familiar flash of green hair. When you finally spotted it, you hurried over to Seán and wrapped him in a hug. His arms slipped around you and you grinned into his shoulder. It felt like home in his arms. Inhaling deeply, you gave a happy sigh. You felt him do the same and you pulled back to grin at him.

“If you were a TSA agent, I’d be happy to get a body scan,” he said with a wink.

You gaped at him for a second before you laughed softly. “Cheesy pickup line, check,” you said with a cheeky grin. “Carrying my luggage….”

Seán laughed and took some of your bags. “Check!” he crowed.

You laughed some more and took the rest of your bags. “Thanks, babe. Let’s get going,” you murmured.

The house was bigger than you expected, but considering that you both needed your own recording spaces and rooms (for now), it made sense. Seán beamed at you, carrying the luggage with you towards the house. Your home. Taking a look around, you nodded in satisfaction. The design was tasteful and Seán had picked really good looking furniture to match. It gave a real “Seán” vibe that made you grin, especially when you spotted stuff that you really liked. You guessed Seán thought it sent a “you” vibe.

You wrapped your arms around him in a freshly excited hug, grinning. “I can’t believe it. This is our home. This is so great,” you murmured, settling down again. The jetlag was starting to hit you, so you gathered up your bags again.

“Bedrooms are upstairs,” Seán said, also grinning as he followed suit. “I honestly can’t believe it either. I’m so happy.”

You nodded and opened the door Seán had gestured to, revealing an empty room but for a bed and a dresser. The perfect shade of your favorite color decorated the walls and you smiled, setting your bags down and turning to Seán. “It’s perfect. Thank you. I still can’t believe I’m here… I guess I better get to unpacking.”

Seán grinned back. “Neither can I. Lemme help,” he said, bounding over to the bed and opening one of your bags.

“I know you’ll only pout if I don’t let you, so fine,” you said with a dramatic roll of your eyes. You directed him on where to put what as you started setting up your bed with your sheets and unfurling clothes to hang up. Eventually all that was left was your gaming setup, and that was something you wanted to do on your own. Seán understood, of course, and took you to your recording space before leaving you to it.

Eventually, finally, everything was set up. It had taken a few hours to get everything in order, but now you were a part of the home. Your home. A happy warm feeling suffused you and you slipped downstairs to find Seán making a meal for you and him. The same thing he’d made on your trip to Ireland.

“It’s all set up,” you said quietly, trying not to startle him. You did anyway, and you chuckled as he yelped and spun around. “Oh my god, you’re wearing a Kiss The Cook apron?”

Seán just clutched at his heart and nodded. “You scared me to death. I thought you’d be up there longer,” he admitted, stepping forward.

You moved towards him and kissed him before he could kiss you. Smiling against his lips, you whispered, “I couldn’t resist following the directions on your apron, Seán. I could feel the pull from upstairs.”

He laughed and danced away to check on the simmering stew. “Well, I’m glad you’re settled in. We’re settled in. You wanna do a vlog together for our channels? Different ones, of course.”

You nodded. “Dude, we could mess with the fans by wearing our usual outfits in your video and then swapping clothes for mine. We should probably make it really obvious it’s a joke though. Don’t need them theorizing any more on our sex lives. Like, I’ll put on a clown nose for yours and then you wear it for mine when we swap. So it’s a goof.”

Seán snickered. “That sounds pretty funny. I like it.”

You hummed softly in response and pulled out your phone to fiddle with the time settings and scroll through tumblr. The SeptiQuest tag was filled with recent art documenting your and Seán’s move to Brighton. You reblogged quite a bit, making sure to tag them all and comment on it.

“Seán, why don’t you ever tag anything on your blog?” you asked. “Mine’s so nice and organized, with links directing to FAQ pages and certain tags for certain posts and stuff. You don’t do any of that.”

“I’m lazy and it’s too late to change now,” he said with a laugh.

“Uh... okay,” you said, bemused, as you shook your head. “Goofball.”

“A goofy goober,” he corrected you, pouring the stew into bowls. “You’re one too.”

“Okay, Spongebob, get over here and eat.” You grinned and took your bowl, eagerly digging in.

Seán sat with you and smiled warmly, digging in as well. Thus, your life together really started.


End file.
